Thoughts on How the World Represents Itself to the Mind
and Some Practical
Consequences for the Study of Energy and Fields

The Word Association Method

In this method
a series of test words is given. The subject is then to respond immediately
with only one word that occurs to him. The experiment
is repeated to test the subject's memory. The time taken to respond is
given here in tenths of a second; response times of fifths of a second are
completely adequate. Complex Symptom notes additional disturbance: subject
says "Oh," or "Ummmm," repeats the test word, or uses more than one word in
response. Repetition indicates whether the patient responds with the same
word or not the second time around. The following are 12 out of 100 words
used in the original test.

Word

Time

Complex Symptom

Repetition

1. Water

0.8

0

x

2 Round

0.8

0

x

3. Chair

1

0

x

4. Swim

1.2

0

x

5. Grass

1

0

x

6. Blue

1.4

0

x

7. Knife

4

3*

-

8. Help

3

3

-

9. Weight

2

1

-

10. Finish

1.6

0

x

11 Mountain

1.2

1

-

12. Fly

1

0

x

(*faint flicker of eyelids, both times)

There is a period of disturbance from word 7 to word 11. There were also
disturbances in two words not given here: "pointed" and "beat." When asked
about the meaning of the keywords, the subject became uncomfortable and
wanted to leave the room.

This test was carried out by C.G. Jung on a patient whose background and
history were entirely unknown to him. When Jung finally got the story out
of him that was attached to these words, it turned out that the subject,
when a young man, had lived abroad and had been put in prison for six
months for wounding a man with a knife. The disturbance in the following
words might be a carryover from the stimulus of the word "knife," or they
might easily be seen-at least the words "help," "weight," and "finish"-as
being associated with the moral issues involved and with the psychological
treatment he was receiving. (See C. G. Jung, Modern Psychology: Notes on
Lectures given at the Eidgenň~-sische Technische Hochschule, ZŠ«▓ich, 2nd
ed., vol. 1 (ZŠ«▓ich, 1959), p. 117.)

In the case of the anomalous transfer of information, such as in ESP or
remote viewing, the complexes have a much more specific function that can
be detailed out. For example, should a person have a serious death
complex, he or she would probably suppress or distort any transmission of
information that related to death. This has different levels of
wah-distribution: